1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for removing organic matter on a substrate.
Moreover, the present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for removing a various reaction products due to a resist.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for removing a reaction product produced on a substrate through a dry-etching step of dry-etching a thin film present on the surface of the substrate by using a resist film as a mask from the substrate.
2. Description of the Background Art
A semiconductor-device fabrication process includes a step in which a metallic thin film made of aluminum or copper formed on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer is etched by using a resist film as a mask and used for the wiring of a semiconductor device.
For example, as shown in FIG. 16A, a device 102 is formed on a substrate 101 and a metallic film 103 is formed on the device 102 and the substrate 101. The metallic film 103 is made of, for example, aluminum.
Then, a resist film 104 is formed on the metallic film 103. The resist film 104 is obtained by coating a resist to the upper face of the metallic film 103 and drying the resist, exposing a wiring pattern to the dried resist by an exposure system, supplying a developer to the exposed resist, and dissolving and removing unnecessary portions. Thereby, only a necessary portion of the metallic film 103 is masked by the resist film 104 and left in the next etching step without being etched.
Then, by applying dry etching such as RIE (reactive ion etching) to the metallic film 103 masked by the resist film 104, portions not masked by the resist film 104 in the metallic film 103 are removed through etching and a portion left without being etched becomes a metallic wiring 106.
Thus, by executing dry etching, a reaction product 105 resulting from the resist film 104 or the like is deposited at a side of the metallic wiring 106 as shown in FIG. 16B.
The reaction product 105 is not usually removed in the following resist removing step but it remains on the substrate 101 as shown in FIG. 16C even after removing the resist film 104.
If the substrate 101 is sent to the next step without removing the reaction product 105, reaction affects the processing quality from the next step downward. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the product 105 before it is sent to the next step.
Hence, a conventional substrate processing apparatus has remover supplying means for supplying a remover for a reaction product to a substrate, intermediate-rinse supplying means for supplying an intermediate rinse such as an organic solvent having a function for washing away a remover to the substrate, and deionized-water supplying means for supplying deionized water to the substrate and washing the substrate with deionized water.
In the case of the substrate processing apparatus of conventional type, the environment around a substrate when processing the substrate is not controlled. Therefore, because a thin film continuously contacts the atmosphere, it is changed in quality due to an atmospheric component and the quality of the substrate may be deteriorated.
The present invention is directed to a substrate processing apparatus for removing an organic matter from a substrate by a remover for the organic matter.
According to the present invention, the substrate processing apparatus for removing an organic matter from a substrate by a remover for the organic matter, comprises a holding-and-rotating section for holding and rotating a substrate, a remover supplying section for supplying a remover for removing an organic matter to the substrate held by the holing-and-rotating section, and a gas supplying section for supplying an inert gas to the substrate held by the holding-and-rotation section.
Because a gas supplying section for supplying an inert gas to a substrate is included, it is possible to reduce the contact between the substrate and the atmosphere. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a thin film on a substrate from being changed in quality.
Preferably, according to a first aspect of the present invention, the remover supplying section has a remover supplying tube for discharging a remover to a substrate, and the gas supplying section has a gas supplying tube for blowing an inert gas on a substrate.
Preferably, according to a second aspect of the present invention, the gas supplying section is provided with a gas nozzle having a slit-like gas-blowing port for blowing an inert gas along the surface of the substrate held by the holding-and-rotating section and the gas nozzle is set to a side of the substrate held by the holding-and-rotating section.
The present invention is also directed to a substrate processing method for removing an organic matter from a substrate by a remover for the organic matter.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to prevent a thin film on a substrate from being changed in quality due to an atmospheric component when performing the processing for removing an organic matter from the substrate.
These and other objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.